Out of all the Mercedes diesels I have owned(78-240d, 82 300D, 85 300TDT, 87 300SDL, (2) 93 2.5T,
1991 SDL, 1998, 1999, E300, 05 E320CDI. In my opinion you simply cannot beat a 2.5Turbo. Very high build quality and materials, good overall performance, outstanding reliability and fuel consumption 33plus under any conditions, 93s had dual airbags, abs, etc. Lots and lots of them still running around European capitals in current taxi service. I recently talked to a cabbie in Amsterdam who has been driving Mercedes diesels his 30 plus year driving career and his taxi and personal car are 124 2.5 cars. He believes they are the best cars Mercedes has EVER made, I would agree, One has over 750,000 miles, simply bulletproof.